On June 27, 2025, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology convened a high-level meeting with key stakeholders—including affiliated institutions—at the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in Arusha to further discuss the establishment and implementation of the Mama Samia Extended Scholarship on Data Science, AI, and Allied Sciences (Samia 360 DSAI+).

Announced in Parliament by the Minister for Education, Prof. Adolf Mkenda, in May 2025, the Samia 360 DSAI+ program aims to provide scholarships to students who have completed Form Six with outstanding performance in science subjects, enabling them to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate studies in data science and related fields at universities abroad.

Learn more about this here: The Chanzo: Government to Extend Samia Scholarship to Fund Students in Data Science Studies

Ifakara Health Institute was proud to join the national dialogue on this transformative initiative, represented by Dr. Samson Kiware, one of Tanzania’s leading data scientists and mathematical modelers. A passionate mentor to MSc and PhD students, Dr. Kiware is spearheading a groundbreaking program building a new generation of data science and modeling experts in Tanzania and across sub-Saharan Africa.

The meeting was attended by the Ministry for Education, Science and Technology, the Director General of the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), the Vice Chancellor of NM-AIST, and other key stakeholders.